The century for March (1896) - poster
The pattern
This still is filed under Exhibit in the column.
Define
An image is dropped into the column of type so the reader meets picture and argument in one scan.
Mechanism
In-flow exhibit. The figure is not a separate see fig. 2. It starts the paragraph. Eye and mind start together.
Verdict
Long copy must show as well as tell: a product cutaway, a before/after, a map in the story.
Why it works
This is a table of contents used as advertising copy, which is the cheapest persuasion available to a periodical: every line is a separate hook, and one of eight will catch any given passer-by. The typographic hierarchy does the selling, headline of the piece large, byline smaller, credential smallest, so a reader scanning at speed collects only the interesting titles and stops to read the credential only when a title has already hooked them. Bird solves the ugly problem of a long text block on a poster by building the illustration around it as a frame rather than behind it, so the copy sits on clean cream and stays readable while the art carries the seasonal mood. The offer line and the imprint are flanked at the base of the same column, so price and availability land at the end of the read rather than competing with the hooks.
Steal this when
You are selling an issue, a bundle, a conference or a course where the individual items are the argument and no single one will convert everybody. Set each item as headline plus byline plus one credential line and let the reader self-select.